Wire Wheel Solutions for Mid 60's Olds (semi-long)

[cfair]

All,
You probably know that in 65-67 Olds offered wire wheel hubcaps for it's 14" wheels. In 65 it had a 2 bar spinner in the center, in 66 it had a 3 bar spinner, in 67 I think no bars at all, just a center cap.

But Olds never made a 15" wire hubcap in this style making it a problem for those of us who want a period look, but bigger wheels & tires that fit disc brakes. Like, let's say, 15X7's.

Recently I put 15" wheels on my 1966 Starfire and it really cleaned up the handling and road feel. Really a lot better than 14X6. A good fix regardless of whether you put on disc brakes.

Anyway that left me with a problem: How to create a wire wheel cover that Olds never made?

Here's the solution: From the 71-76 Ch*vy Cr*pice they had a very similar cap with a "Chevrol*t Motor Division" center (with no bars or ears) in a 15" size. It turns out that the Olds spinners from the 60's bolt right up with 4 1/4" hex heads. No problems, just pop the spinner out of the real Olds cap and pop it into the Ch*vy cap.

But the paint is wrong. Ch*vy didn't paint theirs flat black like Olds did. Spray can is the solution. Takes about 15 minutes to disassemble these things with a Makita and 1/4" bit. Clean 'em, mask 'em off & spray 'em flat black like Olds did and you're good to go. Or leave 'em natural per your preference. I did mine in satin black and it's a bit too shiny. I'll get to flat someday. It's good enough for now. Until I have time to get picky.

One other note: when you have the spokes out, take a moment to polish them with #0000 steel wool. You'll never have that kind of access to cleaning again without disassembly. And the more you disassemble/reassemble, the more these old screw threads strip. Do it once right. Also when you have the spokes out, take a moment to bend them outward just a little so they don't rattle around in their holes when you reassemble. Don't reshape, just create a little spoke tension for blessed silence on the road. If you want, use a pair of pliers to tighten the holes just a bit.

This evening I discovered yet more. Lingering in my head was the question of how the hubcaps were similar, but the size was different. Turns out all they changed from one to the other was the length of the lower spokes. The 15"'s are just a tick longer than the 14"'s. Each of these 'caps has both short and long spokes. The long spokes swap. The short ones were varied from 14" to 15" to make up the difference. The short spokes go to the upper holes in the hubcap base, the long spokes go in the lower holes.

The center chrome pot metal casting is the same size, but the slots for the 14"'s are just a little (microns) too small for the 15" spokes. A little filing and you're there, but I didn't do that tonight.

A little paint and it's up to my standards for true-enough to tradition, bowing to modernity or slightly improved functionality. I'm not going to add fuel injection anytime soon, but I have no guilt about adding disc brakes, HEI or an internally regulated alternator to a '66 Starfire.

Hope this helps someone with a similar attraction to the fake wire wheels from the 60's but who want 15" wheels.

Cheers
cf

[Jamesbo]

Interesting

Ya got any pics?

[wolfman98]

I wanted the wire wheel look for my 69-98 but the ones I found were from a later year Regency. I had the old ones with the proper "jet emblem" caps but the of course did not fit , so my solution was to cut out the "jet emblem" and pop them into the spot where the Olds Regency emblem was. It turned out good and will look better once they are polished.

[Olds64]

That is cool! I had a 75 Chevy Caprice with wire wheel covers. I know exactly what you are talking about. I disassembled mine and cleaned them up before my senior prom (many moons ago). I actually have pictures. In fact, I might still have the wheel covers. I know I didn't sell them when I sold the car. I have to do some searching this evening.

[kartmaster]

Sounds like you did some good work there! You've even inspired me to disassemble mine and polish 'em up! I'm sure yours are a lot sharper than mine will turn out.

[Yellowstatue]

They had 15" wire wheel covers on the '80's Olds- big centres on 1980 and small centres on '83 & '84...Wolfman..and for '69 there was a 14" wire cover with a large black centre PN 402495...

[wolfman98]

So the ones I have came from a 1980? I am not sure of the year cause I bought them from a pic and no car in sight. My car being a 69-98 it has all "jet" emblems on it so I wanted them on the hubcaps as well. I had wire wheel hubcaps from a mid 70's with the "Jet" emblems but they were in poor condition , thus the new ones. It was no easy task as I had to cut the emblem out of the old caps , and they were hard. I am pleased with the result , the pics were from just after I had finished them and some of the epoxy had not been cleaned off yet and the caps not polished.

[Olds64]

Wolfman, those wheel covers look great. I never would have known that the rocket emblems weren't stock unless you mentioned it.

All this talk about wire wheels makes me think of the old 100 spoke Cragars that you run across every once in awhile. Those are awsome wheels!

[wolfman98]

[quote=Olds64;86954]Wolfman, those wheel covers look great. I never would have known that the rocket emblems weren't stock unless you mentioned it.

Thanks , like I mentioned it did take some work , but worth it in the end.